With the Hurricane season just started, the St Catherine Parish Council is being proactive in its efforts towards preparedness with education and mitigation.

This was done through the launch, on Friday, of the third staging of the Bingo for Charity to be held at the Spanish Town Prison Oval in October.

According to Disaster Coordinator for St Catherine, Patricia Lewis, the bingo party is set to empower the committee to make a timely response to persons who are in need of assistance one way or another.

"We see the need to deal with the financial aspect of the response mechanism where we can assist those persons who may need our help. this can only be done through a dedicated fund and that is what the bingo party is able to do, '' Lewis said.

Her views were echoed by chairman of the Council, Norman Scott, who said that it was the vision of a former councillor, Camille Buchanan, that saw the need to empower the council to act more quickly.

It was revealed that, to date, persons have benefited monetarily and through awareness. The aim was to have at least $500,000 in the fund to deal with disaster response.

The committee thanks all the private persons and businesses that came on board to make the event a success. The hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.